


Last Goodbye Is Never What We’re Here For

by Wayhaughtterthanthat



Series: We’ll Take On The World [2]
Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Foster Family, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Purgatory is rich and fancy, Ward is still an ass, Waverly Earp POV, two worlds collide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:33:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22396354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wayhaughtterthanthat/pseuds/Wayhaughtterthanthat
Summary: Waverly’s POV of what happens between chapters 18 - 20 of ‘Beautiful People.’If you haven’t gotten that far or haven’t read that part of the series yet, TURN BACK NOW!
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught
Series: We’ll Take On The World [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1489376
Comments: 10
Kudos: 149





	Last Goodbye Is Never What We’re Here For

**Author's Note:**

> Since ‘Beautiful People’ is solely in Nicole’s POV, it’s hard to really show what the other characters are feeling during certain parts of the story. I thought for this particular situation, it was important to see what actually happened with Waverly during this time to really see where she was coming from. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

“So it’s over?” Nicole asks. 

The words shoot through Waverly’s heart like she just took a bullet to the chest. She feels like she can’t breathe. She wants to tell her ‘no.’ She wants to take back everything that just happened between the pair. She wants to tell her she didn't mean it and everything will be okay. 

Deep down she knows that’s not going to fix anything. As much as it hurts, the only way to help Nicole is to let her go. She knows nothing good is ever going to come to her if she keeps putting her in situations with her father. 

“Waverly!” Ward calls up the stairs, breaking them from their conversation and Waverly from her thoughts. She opens the door and calls back to him. “We’re leaving, let’s go!” He barks, sternly. 

Waverly turns and makes eye contact with Nicole once more. She feels her eyes fill with tears than haven’t fallen yet. She doesn’t know what to say. She sees the pain in the redhead’s eyes. She can’t stand to keep staring at her, so she looks down toward the floor for a moment. She remembers her father calling out for her and turns toward the hallway before she has to hear him yell again.

The walk down the hallway toward the stairs is long and painful. She feels each foot hit the floor with every step she takes, each one feels heavier than the last. She’s headed in the opposite direction of where she wants to be and there is nothing she can do about it. 

She avoids eye contact with her father as she makes her way down the stairs. She can feel his anger just being in his presence and it’s nothing she wants to actually see on his face. She turns toward the front door without speaking, leaving it open for her father to follow her out.

The car is cold when she climbs in, but she feels warm from all of the emotions brewing inside of her. She feels like at any given moment, she could just explode. But when that happens, she’s not sure what it will look like. Her head races with thoughts of everything that happened over the past twenty-four hours. 

She thinks about her trip to the city with Nicole. She thinks about how alive she felt. For the first time, she felt like she found somewhere where she fit in without having to pretend at all. No one looked at her like she was different. No one made her feel out of place. No one judged her for being her. And at this moment, she would give anything to have that feeling back. 

The sound of her father slamming the driver’s side door shut makes her flinch, breaking her from her thoughts. She turns her body as much as possible to avoid being able to see him much from her peripheral vision. 

“What did I tell you about people like her?” Ward finally speaks as he puts the car into reverse, turning around in the driveway. 

Waverly doesn’t speak. She tries to pretend she isn’t in the car with her father. She tries to pretend that all of this isn’t happening.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” Ward barks, clearly frustrated. Waverly reluctantly turns her head toward her father. 

“Nothing I say is going to matter,” she huffs. 

“Maybe if you listened to your father every once in a while…” her father trails off. 

Waverly takes in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Then what, dad?” she asks. “Then I’d be just like you. No. I’d be just like Willa?” She cringes at the thought of being anything like her oldest sister. She continues to look out the window, watching as they make their way closer to their house. 

“Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” Ward says.

“Yeah, because god forbid I’m anything like Wynonna right? Or worse, like me?” She asks. She feels the anger boiling inside of her the more she talks to her father.

“There’s nothing wrong with being you, Waverly,” Ward says. He almost seems genuine as if he actually likes who Waverly really is, not just who he wants her to be. 

“Until I think for myself,” the brunette argues. She turns to see her father’s face contort in frustration. “Your version of me isn’t who I am. You’ve been so caught up in your own little world, dad, that you’re completely disconnected from reality.” 

As they pull into the driveway of their house, Waverly doesn’t take her eyes off of her father. She sees the anger that continues to boil inside of him, but she doesn’t stop. She won’t back down. 

“Excuse me?”

“Maybe if you take a minute to look around you, you’re the only one that actually cares about me being with Nicole!” Her voice raises the more she speaks to him. Pulling the door handle on the inside of the car, she pushes the door open, climbing out quickly.

“You spend too much time with Randy Nedley,” her father huffs as he follows suit, climbing out of his side of the car. 

Waverly turns and slaps the door dramatically behind her, turning to head for the front door of the house. “Oh, yeah, because spending more time with you would be better, right?” She spurs as she opens the front door. She turns toward her father who is on her heels. “Oh wait, you’re never even around!” She shouts as she enters the house. 

“Is that what this is about?” Ward asks. His tone is calmer than it previously was. He shuts the door behind them when he’s fully in the house as well. “Do you need me around more? You’re lashing out because I have an important job that takes me away a lot?”

Waverly squints her eyes at her father, trying to get a better read on him. His calm demeanor is confusing, but nothing she hasn’t seen before. This is where he tells her he will make more time for her if that’s what she needs. This is where he apologizes for not being there, but quickly flips it around reminding her that he’s the one that stayed when her mother left. This is where she usually tells him that she accepts his apology so the argument can end. This is where she excuses herself to her room to sulk until she pushes her feels down deep enough where she doesn’t explode. 

Not this time.

This time she’s done hiding. She’s done making excuses for his behavior that’s never going to change. She’s done making excuses for having feelings and for making people feel like she’s not willing to fight for them. 

“I’m not lashing out,” she corrects him, sternly. “If falling in love is acting out, then we’ve all done it.”

“You’re seventeen years old, what do you know about love?” Ward’s frustration is back.

“Probably a lot more than you,” she huffs under her breath. 

“What was that?” Ward asks.

“What do you know about love dad? You fell in love and mom’s not even here anymore.” She knows immediately that she hit a sore spot with her father. He doesn’t talk much about his relationship with her mother, especially not that she left or why. 

Ward takes a step forward toward his daughter. Waverly braces herself like she’s about to be slapped across the face. 

“Watch your mouth,” the man warns. He’s close enough for Waverly to smell that he surprisingly hasn’t had a drink recently. 

“I’m just speaking the truth,” the brunette says, boldly. 

“Fine, you want to discuss your mother?” Ward asks. Waverly is surprised that he’s willing to discuss her. “You’re right, she left. That’s what falling in love at a young age gets you. Especially when they're the wrong type of people,” he spits. Waverly internally groans at her father turning the conversation back to discuss how ‘terrible’ of a person Nicole is. “I tried to warn you that people like Nicole are no good. You want to choose her and disobey me? See how long you two make it when she realizes you won’t have this money forever!” 

“Because money is everything, right?” Waverly asks sarcastically. “You don’t have anything to worry about anymore, dad, we broke up.” 

As the words come out of her mouth, she feels a pain in her chest that she realizes hasn’t gone away since she left Nicole. She fights as hard as she can to keep it inside until she is alone to let it out. 

“What the hell is going on here?” Wynonna’s voice comes echoing down the hallway toward the pair. 

Ward doesn’t answer, he just gives his older daughter a look like he’s silently asking her to butt the hell out of it. Waverly feels her stomach drop when she sees her sister coming to her rescue. Suddenly the adrenaline that has been coursing through her veins starts to disappear and she’s feeling everything again. She chokes back tears that threaten to make any appearance, telling herself that her father doesn’t deserve to see her show emotion. 

“Nothing,” Waverly lies. She doesn’t want to put Wynonna in the middle of anything between her and their father. She has enough of her own life to deal with and Waverly doesn’t want to add to that in anyway. “I’m going to get ready for the banquet,” she says as she turns for the stairs. 

Wynonna gives her a knowing look, but Waverly doesn’t look in her direction for long. She makes it to the stairs and quickly starts up them, not wanting to spend anymore time downstairs with her father. 

“You made the right choice, Waverly,” Ward calls out after her. 

“I didn’t really have a choice, did I dad?” She asks before she hits the top of the stairs, allowing her feet to carry her down the hallway. 

If her father replied to her, she didn’t hear it. She shuts the door behind her when she makes her way into her bedroom. She doesn’t lock it, assuming her father isn’t going to go out of his way to come see her. If anything, he’s probably already in the liquor cabinet, finding himself something to drink before his banquet. 

A few moments later, there’s a light knock at her door. The door cracks open just enough for Waverly to see Wynonna’s face. She gestures for her sister to come in and watches as she complies, locking the door behind her. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Wynonna asks. Waverly appreciates that she doesn’t ask the obvious question about whether or not something is wrong.

“Not really,” Waverly says plainly. 

Wynonna makes her way into the room, leaning against the wall near Waverly’s desk. “Do you want company while you sit in silence?” 

Waverly pauses for a moment. She lets out an audible sigh as she looks back at her sister and collects her thoughts. 

“He’s a jackass,” she finally says. 

Wynonna lets out a laugh. “Tell me something I don’t know,” she says. 

“It’s bullshit, Wynonna,” Waverly huffs. “The way he treats us and he doesn’t even give a shit!” She lays back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling above her. 

“I know, babygirl, but what other options do we have right now?” Wynonna asks. 

“I’ll get a job, a place on my own,” Waverly starts trying to brainstorm a way out of this mess. 

Wynonna gasps dramatically. “Okay, let’s not get drastic here!” 

“Wynonna, I’m not joking,” Waverly groans. She turns her head enough so she can make eye contact with her sister. “Can you please try to be serious for once too?”

“I’m being serious too,” the older Earp says. “You’d really give up all of this for Nicole?” 

“I thought she was your friend,” Waverly retorts.

“She is my friend, but that’s a big commitment to make,” Wynonna explains. 

“It’s not  _ for  _ Nicole,” Waverly corrects her. 

“You can honestly tell me that you want to move out of dad's house and work the rest of your high school career but it’s not about Nicole?”

“Okay, maybe it’s about her,” Waverly agreed. “But not  _ for  _ her. I screwed up Wynonna. She’ll probably never forgive me, and that’s something I have to live with. But what I don’t have to live with is someone who’s going to treat me, and even you, like dad does.”

“You never cease to surprise me, babygirl,” Wynonna says with a soft laugh. 

“Why?” Waverly asks as she sits up on her bed. 

“You have more courage than I’ll ever have.”

“So now you support me?” Waverly asks, raising an eyebrow to her sister. 

“I’ll always support you. I just don’t ever want you in a situation where something bad could happen to you,” Wynonna explains. “But when I really think about it, it’s not dangerous, it’s brave. You’d really do anything you could to get yourself out of here, wouldn’t you?” 

Waverly nods. “But I wouldn’t go without you.” 

“Why me?” 

“Someone needs to be there for you too, Wynonna,” Waverly says. As long as Waverly can remember, Wynonna has always been there for her and she can’t imagine not having her in her life. 

“You’re gonna make me cry, babygirl,” Wynonna says, lacking the sarcasm that Waverly would expect. 

“I thought you were the tough one,” Waverly teases, attempting to relieve some of the emotions in the room. 

“I am,” Wynonna says quickly. “And don’t you forget it!” She adds, pointing a finger toward her younger sister. 

Waverly laughs and gestures for Wynonna to join her on the bed. She slides up toward her pillows. They sit next to each other, leaning against the headboard at the top of the bed. Waverly pulls her knees close to her chest, leaning her head on her sister. 

“I hate that I would have to choose between my family and Nicole,” the younger Earp sighs. 

“You shouldn’t have to,” Wynonna tells her. 

“You know what sucks the most? Family are the people who are genetically predisposed to love you.” 

She feels Wynonna wrap her arm around her shoulder, rubbing soft circles on her arm with her thumb. Waverly feels herself melt into the comfort of her sister’s arm around her. 

“Believe me, kid, I get it,” Wynonna says. “But I’ve found that the older we get, the more we realize who we actually start to consider family and who is actually related to us by blood.”

“Well, as dumb as it sounds, right now, I’d choose Nicole over most of our blood family,” Waverly doesn’t hesitate to say. 

“Love isn’t dumb, Waves.”

She’s a little surprised by these words coming out of her sister’s mouth. She’s usually so combative about the idea of being in love or commitment to another person. “I thought it was a big commitment?”

“It is, but it’s not dumb to have feelings,” Wynonna admits. 

“It feels childish to say I’d throw it all away for a girl, Wynonna, I’m 17.”

“With your head screwed on so tight that you’re trying to be too rational here,” Wynonna adds with a laugh. 

“How do you do it?” Waverly asks. She tilts her head up to see her sister looking down at her. 

“What?” 

“Just do things without thinking,” Waverly says with a sigh. 

“I’m going to try not to take offense to that,” Wynonna says in a warning tone. 

“I don’t mean it in a bad way. I just don’t know how to let go and follow my heart.”

“I thought you were doing a pretty good job of it for a while there,” Wynonna tells her. She’s right. For a while, Waverly forgot all about what her father thinks when she was with Nicole. Being with her made Waverly feel like she could do anything, like she was invincible. “Why did you let her go?”

“She doesn’t deserve to have to deal with dad,” Waverly explains. Regardless of how much better Nicole made Waverly feel having to live in a world that she didn’t belong in, it was too selfish to put her through that. 

“But you’d choose her?”

“I would.”

“But you let her go,” Wynonna repeats like she’s really trying to get a grasp on the details of the situation. 

“What if I didn’t? What if there’s a slim chance she’ll understand and I choose her and things go wrong? Then I’ll be all alone,” Waverly admits her fears out loud for the first time to her sister. 

“But what if it doesn’t go wrong?” Wynonna challenges. “I think you need to trust your heart sometimes,” she adds, poking Waverly on her heart. 

“Maybe.”

“And you’ll never be alone, babygirl. Because you will always have me. You’ll also have this baby,” she adds, placing her hand over her stomach. “Because she’s going to have the coolest aunt ever, and she’s going to know it.”

Waverly's eyes widen for a moment when she realizes what Wynonna just said. “She?!”

A smile grows on the older Earp’s face. “I found out this morning. They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to tell yet, but it turns out she’s just as modest as her mother,” she laughs. 

Waverly can’t help but laugh, but tears start to fall at the same time. She thinks about the life that’s developing inside her sister right now, a life that hasn’t had a chance to be tainted by the outside world yet. As that baby’s aunt, she’s determined to protect her the best she can and she’s thinking the only way to do that is to make changes now to protect herself and Wynonna. She’s not sure what that means yet, but she knows something has to change. 

“No matter what happens here, Waves, you’ll always have us,” Wynonna reminds her. 

Waverly nods as the tears continue to fall from her face. The pair sits in silence for a few moments longer before Waverly decides she should probably get in the shower if they were going to make it to this stupid banquet. She tries to suggest they skip it for a moment, but Wynonna talks her out of that idea by telling her that she’ll be by her side the entire time. 

She makes her way into the bathroom, stripping off her clothes from her emergency bag that she had put on that morning before leaving the hotel room with Nicole. She thinks for a moment how much has changed since this morning, making it feel like it was a lifetime ago. 

She catches a glimpse of her tear stained face in the bathroom mirror and doesn’t want to spend too much time looking at her appearance. She stops briefly when she catches a darker mark on her collarbone, leaning in to examine it more. Running her fingers over the spot, she realizes that Nicole must have left a mark there from the night before. She lets out a sigh as she turns to head toward the shower. 

As the hot water hits her body, she closes her eyes and lets it run over her head. She starts to see flashes of the night before, as if it’s playing like a movie in her mind. She starts to feel the redhead’s hands on her body, the pain from missing her starts to thump in her chest. Rubbing her face with her hands, she quickly opens her eyes in attempts to stop the memories from playing. It works but doesn’t stop the pain in her chest from continuing. 

The banquet goes by faster than Waverly expects. It’s all sort of a blur and she’s not really sure what it's for. Her dad gives out various awards to different people, none of which she pays much attention to. Wynonna checks on her often, making sure she’s okay. Every once in a while, she zoned out and feels her sister poke her in the side to gain her attention. 

“Is it over yet?” Waverly whispers. She’s honestly just exhausted and this is the last place she wants to be. Wynonna shakes her head, causing the brunette to internally groan. 

She continues to sit through the event, trying to keep herself as distracted as possible from the thoughts in her head. All she can think about is Nicole. She wonders what she’s up to at this very moment, hoping that she’s at least okay. 

The banquet comes to an end after what feels like forever. Waverly is grateful that Wynonna drove separately so they didn’t have to go home with their father. They entertained him momentarily by saying ‘hi’ to a few of his friends, then quickly made up some excuse to leave. 

When they make it back to their house, Waverly doesn’t make any stops before heading up to her room. Completely exhausted, all she wants to do is lay down. Wynonna checks in on her a few times that night and she finally hears from Chrissy via text. 

The blonde insists that she is coming over the next day to spend the day with her, even when Waverly tells her she just wants to be alone. She assumes she’s at least been filled in on one side of the story, but she knows she’s going to want Waverly’s side as well. 

_________  
  


The next morning, Waverly wakes up with a headache that she assumes is due to spending half the night crying. She hasn’t seen or heard from her father since the banquet and isn’t even sure if he came home last night. 

She remembers that he has some plans with a few of his friends for the day, so she is relieved that she doesn’t have to deal with him at all. 

Chrissy comes over to the house around noon that day and Waverly has difficulty holding in her emotions when she finally sees the blonde. Other than Wynonna, Chrissy knows Waverly best, and she knows she isn’t going to be able to pretend nothing is wrong for very long. 

When she arrives, she’s enters Waverly’s room, quickly closing the door behind her. Waverly is laying on her back on top of her bed, staring at the ceiling. The room is full of the sound of music that the brunette had been playing over a speaker in attempts to drown out the sounds of her racing thoughts. 

“Secondhand Serenade?” Chrissy asks as she enters the room. “Man, you two are meant for each other.”

“What?” Waverly asks, sitting up to look at her best friend. 

“Nothing,” Chrissy quickly retracts. “How are you doing, Waves?”

Waverly doesn’t speak at first, she just gives Chrissy a look that causes the blonde to quickly make her way over to the bed, laying next to her. They spend the next several minutes in silence before Waverly finally asks Chrissy how she’s doing. 

Chrissy starts to tell Waverly about how she started texting with Nicole’s friend Charlie from the city. It stings a little knowing that Waverly was the one who suggested this set up, but she’s happy that despite everything else, Nicole selflessly still followed through with the plan. 

Waverly finds herself smiling at the blonde as she talks about her text conversations with Charlie. As much as she is in pain right now, she’s glad at least one of them is having a good time. 

She lets Chrissy talk for as long as she wants, distracting her fairly well from her thoughts of Nicole. Chrissy does try to redirect the conversation a few times, asking about Waverly without directly asking about the breakup. 

“I feel like I really screwed up,” Waverly finally admits. Chrissy doesn’t say anything yet. She just gives her a look, giving her time to continue. Chrissy has always been good at giving Waverly that ‘I could have told you that’ look. 

Waverly continues to explain the situation to Chrissy, the blonde allowing her time to speak. She finds herself reliving the trip to the city, in more vivid detail than she’s told anyone else yet. 

“Wait, hold up,” Chrissy finally has a comment. “You guys slept together?!” 

“Yes.” 

“And?” 

“And what, Chrissy?” Waverly huffs, annoyed that she would even ask that right now. “And then I broke up with her because I’m an idiot.” 

“I meant like how was it?!” Chrissy squeals. “But I see now how that isn’t really an appropriate question and I’m a terrible friend and I’m sorry,” she quickly retracts her previous statement. 

Waverly laughs. It’s probably the most genuine laugh that she’s had since yesterday morning. A laugh she truly needed. 

“You’re not a terrible friend,” Waverly assures her. “Honestly, it was the best night of my life. Not just the sex part, but being completely alone for once, seeing a side of her I’ve never seen before…”

“Like fully naked?” 

“Chrissy!” Waverly groans. “I meant like seeing her with her friends in the city. Seeing where she grew up, where she used to go to school, where she spent her free time,” she explains. “I don’t know if it makes sense, but it made me love her more, you know? If that were even possible.” 

“So why did you really break up with her then?” Chrissy asks. “What happened to standing up to your dad? What happened to not caring what he thinks?” 

“I’m just afraid he’s going to do something that’s going to be a whole lot worse on her than it would be on me,” Waverly explains. “I’m not sure what that is yet, but you know my dad, Chrissy. He doesn’t stop until he gets his way. This is the only way I can protect her.” 

“I just don’t want you to give up,” Chrissy says. 

Waverly pauses as those words repeat in her head. She doesn’t take offense to them, but they sit with her more than she expected. She takes a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. 

“What do I do then?” She asks, knowing Chrissy probably wasn’t going to have all of the answers either. 

“I think you’ll find that within yourself,” Chrissy tells her. It’s not exactly the answer she was hoping for, but Waverly agrees. If anything is going to change, it’s going to have to be something she does and not anyone else. 

They spend the rest of the day mostly just lounging around Waverly’s room and talking. Waverly cries at various points throughout the day, and Chrissy lets her. She’s not sure if the blonde knows how much she appreciates having her there for her, but it definitely helps her get through the rest of the weekend. 

  
_________

Going to school on Monday is one of the last things Waverly wants to do. As much as she loves school, her heart really isn’t in it right now. When she makes her way into the school, she wants to avoid as many people as possible. 

She sees Chrissy right away, but doesn’t stop to talk to her since she’s entering the school with Nicole. She wants to be able to go to Nicole’s locker and walk to class with her, but she knows those days are long gone. 

She makes it to her first period class and sits toward the front of the room. She doesn’t want to invade Nicole’s space by sitting where they usually sit together and honestly, sitting where she won’t be able to see the redhead makes it a little easier. 

Before history class, Waverly feels her anxiety shooting through the roof. She knows it’s a lot to ask of Nicole to continue to go through their presentation like nothing has changed, but both of their grades are counting on this. 

“Ready?” She asks when she enters the classroom, taking a seat next to Nicole. Nicole nods, but doesn’t say anything. Waverly’s insides scream at the sight of the redhead, eyes still full of pain. She wonders what she did for the rest of her weekend. She wonders how she’s doing, but doesn’t ask because she fears she already knows the answer.

The presentation starts off fairly well. Waverly does her best to put on a good front, pretending like nothing is wrong. She keeps telling herself that they just need to get through the presentation. Nicole has a harder time covering up her emotions, but she seems to by trying to follow the presentation as they practiced at first. 

As the presentation goes on, Waverly starts to sense more of Nicole’s emotions that she’s clearly having a harder time covering up. She wants to ask her if she’s okay, but she knows the answer to that already. She wishes they had a little more time to talk before the presentation so things didn’t become awkward in the middle of it. 

“And then there were the main allies,” Waverly says, continuing to follow her note cards that she grasps tightly in her hands. 

“And the ones that weren’t good enough to be apart of that group,” Nicole adds. 

Waverly’s eyes widen at the unscripted comment from the redhead. She gives Nicole a warning look that she receives no response to. She watches as Nicole just looks back down at the cards in her hand. 

“And the countries who thought they were protected, but they turned their backs real quick when times got hard,” Nicole continues. 

Waverly can’t believe she’s doing this right now in front of the entire class. “Nicole-” She warns under her breath. 

“Is everything okay ladies? Do you need to take a break?” the teacher asks. He probably feels the tension building between the pair. 

“Everything’s fine,” Waverly says, quickly, giving Nicole another warning look. 

Nicole takes a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. “It’s great,” she says with a smile toward the teacher.

Waverly rubs her face with her hand out of frustration. “Just stick to the script and stop adding your own commentary,” She tells her in a hushed tone.

“Fine,” Nicole huffs and continues reading from the cards. Her tone is flat like she really doesn’t care. 

The bell rings not long after their presentation and Nicole doesn’t waste any time before she ducks out of the classroom. Waverly quickly collects her belongings and chases her out of the room, hoping she didn’t get too far. 

“What the hell was that?!” Waverly calls after her. She can see the redhead cringe, continuing to walk away from Waverly without stopping yet. “Nicole!” She yells. 

“What was what?” Nicole asks, finally turning around. The hall was still fairly full of people, at this point most of them are staring at the pair. 

“Don’t play dumb with me, Nicole,” Waverly spits. Nicole turns and gestures for the brunette to follow her down an empty hallway, away from the crowd. 

“It’s over, I’m sure we got an A, who cares now?” Nicole says, stopping and turning to face Waverly again. 

“You didn’t have to make me look like a fool up there in front of the class,” Waverly says, annoyed. 

“Oh, right, It’s all about what everyone else thinks. I forgot,” Nicole argues. 

Waverly’s eyes widen at the comment. “Really Nicole?” She huffs. “What’s your problem?” 

“Are you fucking serious, Waverly?” Nicole asks. “What's my problem? You really want to go there right now?” 

“What’s going on between us has nothing to do with our school project, Nicole,” Waverly tells her. She’s not really prepared to discuss their relationship, or lack of relationship in the middle of the school hallway, but she is frustrated that Nicole would make a fool of her during their presentation. 

“Well, I’m sorry I can’t pretend,” Nicole huffs. 

“I’m not pretending,” Waverly informs her. She wants to tell her how much this whole thing hurts her too, but she’s not sure how much the redhead will believe her right now. 

“Then you’re really totally fine with this? Real nice,” Nicole says. “You told me that you loved me. We even slept together. Then you dumped me and now you can walk around here like everything’s totally fine?”

“I do lov-” Waverly starts. 

“Don’t,” Nicole cuts her off. “You don’t get to tell me that anymore. You dumped me remember? You made the choice. I didn’t get a choice in that matter, but I do choose to not have to stand here and let you tell me that you love me when you don’t!”

“Nicole,” Waverly’s says, a little softer now and more apologetic. She does feel bad for hurting her. She still thinks it’s what’s best for the redhead, but she knows that doesn’t make it hurt any less. 

Nicole doesn’t answer. She quickly spins on her heels and walks away from Waverly. The brunette doesn’t try to call after her at this point, she just stares at her until she turns a corner and she can no longer see her. 

A wave of emotions crashes over her all at once. The last thing she wants to do is cry in the middle of the school hallway and have everyone asks her what’s wrong. She really doesn’t want to talk about it. She quickly thinks of the one person that she wants to be around right now, other than Nicole.

She pulls out her phone and finds her sister’s phone number, putting the phone to her ear as soon as she presses ‘call.’ 

“How would you like to fake a family emergency and get my out of school for the rest of the day?” Waverly asks as soon as her sister picks up. 

“Who are you and what have you done with my little sister?” Wynonna teases. 

“Please?” Waverly asks, softly. She’s sure Wynonna can hear the defeat she feels in her tone because she doesn’t question her any further. Within ten minutes, Waverly is excused from the rest of the day and heading toward her car. 

Before she can get too far, Wynonna texts her to tell her not to go home, but to meet her somewhere else. Waverly is confused at first, but goes along with it anyway. The less time she has to spend at home, the better. 

She pulls up to her aunt and uncle’s house a few minutes later. Wynonna’s truck is already in the driveway. As she climbs out of her Jeep, she sees Wynonna waiting outside for her. 

“Is this where you spend your time when you’re not home?” Waverly asks. 

Wynonna nods and shrugs her shoulders. “Sure beats being home and having to deal with dad stopping in.” 

“So why did you want me to meet you here?” Waverly asks. 

“Dad’s home,” Wynonna tells her. “I didn’t want you to have to deal with that. Besides, we have a thought that I wanted to run by you.” 

“That sounds terrifying,” Waverly teases. “But can we do it inside? It’s freezing out here.” 

Wynonna nods and leads her sister into the house as if she’s never been there before. She gestures for her to follow her into the living room where she sees Gus and Curtis both sitting on one of the couches, looking up at them as they enter the house. 

Gus gives her a much needed, warm hearted smile that immediately calms her down. When she makes her way fully into the room, Wynonna gestures for her to take a seat next to her on the other couch. She looks around the room a little, getting a weird feeling that they are up to something. Hesitantly, she complies and takes the seat next to her sister. 

“So Wynonna has been talking to us today,” Gus says. Waverly looks at her sister and back toward her aunt and uncle. It’s unclear what she means by that statement, but she’s interested in finding out. 

Her aunt has always had a way about her that makes Waverly feel a lot more calm and safe than she does in her own home. 

“Should I be worried about what?” Waverly asks. She doesn’t feel like she’s in trouble for something, but she senses a seriousness in the tone of her aunt’s voice. 

“We didn’t realize how bad it was,” Gus begins. Her tone is soft and almost apologetic as if she did something wrong instead of their father. 

“It’s not your fault,” Waverly says, quickly. She doesn’t want anyone else to take the blame for what ward does in this world. 

“I’ve always known your father wasn’t perfect. So did your mother. That’s what made her fall for him in the first place,” she continues. “He was handsome and said all the right things at the right times. I remember the first time your mother told me about your father, you know what our parents said?”

Waverly shakes her head. 

“You need to be careful with boys like that, Michelle,” she says, in a mocking voice. 

“Boys like what?” Waverly asks. She notices her sister and uncle sitting quietly as her aunt continues to speak. 

“Boys with money.”

Waverly gives her a questioning look. She realizes in this moment, that no one has ever told her much about her family history. She takes fault for some of that, she never really asked questions about her mother because she was mad at her for leaving. 

“His parents on the other hand, gave a similar warning, but a lot more harsh,” she continues. “Two different worlds,” she says. “Definitely not a line your father came up with on his own.” 

“You mean you and my mom…”

“We’re born in the city?” Gus asks like she can read Waverly’s mind. 

“Why did you never tell me before?” Waverly asks as if she’s offended that this information was kept from her all of these years. Maybe that’s why she’s felt like she doesn’t fully belong here. Maybe she’s always known there was more to life because of her mom, even if she barely remembers having her around. 

“Your father didn’t want you to know anymore than he was willing to tell you,” Gus explains. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure how much of a difference it would make. You’re not like him, Waverly. You’re not like a lot of people around here. And that’s something you’ve done on your own.” 

Wynonna coughs like she’s trying to get their attention. “Okay, your sister too,” Gus adds with a small laugh, rolling her eyes at her older niece. 

“Thank you,” Wynonna says with a grin on her face. Waverly shakes her head at her sister. 

“So you both married into the money?” Waverly asks, trying to gain more information. It’s a lot to process, but she’s trying not to get upset over it all too. She knows Gus wasn’t trying to hide things from her. 

“I guess you could put it that way,” Gus says. “But Curtis’ parents were totally different people than Ward’s. I don’t want to sit here any make excuses for your dad’s behavior, but his upbringing never made it easy for him.” 

“He sure knows how to pass that upbringing through his parenting,” the brunette huffs. 

“He does,” Gus agrees. “Look, I can’t make excuses for my sister leaving either. If I could change other people’s behaviors, the two of you would never have to deal with any of what your parents have put you through.” 

“But what we can change is the environment you have to live in,” Curtis finally chimes in. Waverly gives him a confused look, unsure of how that’s going to happen. She was half joking when she told Wynonna she would move out and get a job. When is she actually going to have time for that? 

“Curtis and I have been talking,” Gus explains. “And we want the two of you to come stay with us.” 

Waverly’s eyes widen. Is she hearing her right? Does she really want them to come live at their house? 

“Really?” Was all she could muster. 

“We have the room,” Curtis assures her. “You’re almost done with school and college is just around the corner. It would be nice for you to not have other factors to worry about when you go home.” 

Tears threaten to fall from Waverly’s eyes. She feels her sister’s comforting arm wrap around her shoulder. 

“And what about dad?” She asks. 

“I have a plan to get him to give in,” Wynonna explains. “If we pretend to be his happy little family that he wants at his public events, he’s not going to argue where we live. Otherwise he won’t get that part of us either.” 

Waverly is extremely proud and a little taken aback by her sister’s plan. Wynonna has always been defiant toward what her father wants, but this is the first well thought out plan she has had and she feels like it might really work. 

“Okay,” Waverly says with a nod. “I’m in.” 

____________

The conversation with their father goes smoother than Waverly expected, thanks to Gus and Curtis doing most of the talking. She was afraid that if she or Wynonna had gotten too many words in, it would have been a whole different argument. 

Chrissy helps her move in over the course of the next couple of weeks. She really appreciates the help and starts to feel a little better about her situation at home, finally finding a place that she feels comfortable to go home to every day. She stills feels an emptiness inside of her though, wishing she could share all of this with Nicole. She tries a few times to muster up the courage to talk to the redhead, but so far she’s chickened out every time. 

“I can’t believe you’re finally out of Warden Ward’s house,” Chrissy says as she opens up a box of books on the floor, starting to help the brunette put them away of a bookshelf. 

“Did you just make up that nickname for him?” Waverly asks, giving her best friend a look. 

“Yeah, you like it?” Chrissy asks like she’s super proud of herself for thinking of it. 

“Whatever,” Waverly laughs, shaking her head at her friend. “Thanks for helping me move in by the way.”

“Of course! We just have to make this room more...you,” the blonde says as she looks around the room. 

Waverly takes a look around as well, noticing the plain walls and lack of decorations. “I know. I know. It’s a work in progress.” 

“Speaking of works in progress.. have you told Nicole you moved yet?” 

“That’s not really a work in progress. That’s still a ‘Waverly screwed up big time’ sort of thing,” she sighs. 

“But you did this to win her back, right?” Chrissy asks. 

“I did it to get the hell out away from my father, Chrissy,” Waverly snaps. The blonde gives her a guilty look like she said the wrong thing. “Sorry,” Waverly apologizes. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to win her back just because I moved.” 

“But you want to?” 

“She’s all I think about,” the brunette admits. Another sigh leaves her mouth and she lays back on her new bed, staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling. “What’s wrong with me, Chrissy?” 

“Nothing’s wrong with you, Waves.”

“But I broke up with her,” she explains. “I made the choice. I didn’t even give her one. Why do I get to be upset about it?” 

“Because you’re human,” Chrissy says. Waverly can’t help but laugh. Chrissy has her moments of being selfish, but she’s always been good at giving advice even if she never listens to it for herself. 

Next to Wynonna, Chrissy knows her better than anyone. They’ve been friends for so long, she can barely remember life without her. They met in kindergarten after Champ Hardy stole Waverly’s glue stick during art class. Chrissy punched him in the gut because he wouldn’t give it back and they were friends ever since. 

“You get to feel how you feel, Waves,” the blonde explains. “No one is going to take that away from you.” 

“Or you’ll punch them in the gut?” Waverly teases after remembering kindergarten. 

Chrissy bursts out into laughter. “Champ had it coming.” Waverly laughs and nods in agreeance. “He still does,” the blonde huffs. 

  
  


__________

  
  


The closer it gets to the Snow Ball at school, the less excited Waverly becomes. She told Chrissy she would go with her and Charlie, but the idea of not being there with Nicole was killing her, even if she never admitted that out loud. 

Throughout the weeks leading up to the dance, she watched as boys in the school asked girls to go with them in extravagant ways. Every time she saw another one go down, she hoped that no one would put her through that public embarrassment. 

Pulling her books out of her locker, Waverly is confused when she hears a slight commotion in the halls. She shouldn’t be surprised, assuming it’s another guy asking some other girl to be his date to the dance. 

When she looks up from her locker, she sees Perry walking down the hall with a bunch of balloons in his hands. Her eyes widen in shock when she realizes he’s headed in her direction. Suddenly the rest of their classmates that are in the hall around them are cheering him on as he smiles at her, making his way closer to her. 

She looks around, hoping for some sort of escape from the inevitable situation. As Perry continues to make his way up to her, she sucks in a deep breath, almost forgetting to let it out. 

“Perry,” Waverly says, softly, before he can say anything to her. 

The boy smiles back at her, pushing the balloons forward. Waverly musters up a smile, reluctantly taking the balloons from him. “Would you like to do me the honor of accompanying me to the Snow Ball on Friday?” 

“I, um,” Waverly starts to stutter. She looks around at the crowd that surrounds them and back at Perry’s face. He’s a really nice guy with a huge heart that she really doesn’t want to hurt right now, but going to the dance with Perry was not something she really wanted to do. 

“Oh,” he says, face dropping quickly. 

“Look,” Waverly says. She tries to keep her tone hushed so she doesn’t embarrass the boy anymore than she probably already has. She pulls him to the side to try to talk to him with a little more privacy. “Do you all mind?” She asks a little more annoyed than she meant. A couple of the football players put their hands in the air and back away from the pair. 

“Hey, listen, it’s cool,” Perry tells her right away. 

“It’s really nothing against you, Perry,” Waverly explains. “You’re a great guy and have always been a great friend to me. It’s just that, I’m still in love with Nicole.” 

Perry doesn’t speak, but just nods in response. 

“I’ve been going through a lot lately and the Snow Ball has really been the last thing on my mind. I think I’m just going to go with some friends, but if you’re there, maybe you can save a dance for me?” She asks. 

Perry smiles and nods. “Hey, I understand. The heart wants what the heart wants,” he says, placing a hand softly on Waverly’s shoulder. She offers him a warm smile. “I’ll definitely save a dance for you,” he adds with a wink. 

Waverly feels the tension release from her shoulders. “Thanks,” she says, opening her arms to offer him a hug. The boy accepts the offer and pulls her in for a hug. 

“I’m not sure what to do with these balloons,” he says, blushing a little. “Sorry,” he adds, apologetically. 

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Waverly assures him as she ties the balloons to her locker. “I’ll figure that out later. Walk me to class?” 

The boy laughs and nods, gesturing over his shoulder for Waverly to follow him down the hallway. She looks around, noticing everyone has finally gone back to doing their own things. She glances in the direction of Nicole’s locker, noticing she’s nowhere to be found. She wants to find her, to tell her that in case she did see the production in the hallway, she didn’t say ‘yes’ to Perry. She wants to tell her she wishes they could still go to the dance together, but at the same time, she’s not sure what good that would do. 

__________

Two days before the dance, Waverly and Chrissy are hanging out at the Nedley house. As they make their way up the stairs, she finds herself looking down the hallway toward Nicole’s room. She sometimes wishes her door would fly open and she could at least get a glimpse of the redhead outside of school again. She hasn’t seen her other than briefly in the school hallways since they broke up. She sometimes hears her walk by Chrissy’s room when she’s over there, but other than that, nothing. 

“So you really think Charlie is going to like me?” Chrissy asks, breaking Waverly from her thoughts of Nicole. 

“Huh?” She asks, clearly not paying much attention to what her friend was asking. 

“Are you okay?” Chrissy asks. “I feel like you’ve been on a different planet all week.” 

“What? Yeah,” Waverly says. Chrissy gives her a look like she doesn’t believe her. “It’s just, the dance…”

“And you want to go with Nicole.” 

“Well, yeah,” she says, like it’s obvious. “I just want her to talk to me again.” 

“Have you tried talking to her?” 

“No.” 

“Well how do you expect her to talk to you if you don’t try first?” Chrissy asks. “Look, I know Nicole fairly well now, and I don’t see her just starting up a random conversation anytime soon.” 

“But what if I try and she just blows me off?” 

“She probably will,” Chrissy says nonchalantly. 

Waverly huffs at her friend, rolling her eyes. She picks up a pillow and hits her with it. 

“Hey!” Chrissy whines. “I'm just saying what you already know! I’m sure she’s not going to be super keen on chatting it up with you right now. But since when have you not been persistent?” Her friend challenges. 

Waverly pauses for a moment. “You’re right.” 

“When am I not?” Chrissy teases. Waverly picks the pillow back up, holding it over her like a warning. Chrissy quickly moves out of the way so she can’t get hit again. 

“So are we going to the mall or what?” Waverly asks. Chrissy has wanted Waverly to come with her to pick out something for her to wear to the dance. They had already gone shopping a few other times, but nothing ever ‘spoke’ to Chrissy as she put it. She was getting a little bored with shopping with her, but it was better than sitting around thinking about Nicole and knowing she was probably never going to do anything about her thoughts. 

As they make their way out of Chrissy’s room, Waverly notices Nicole’s bedroom door is open. She finds herself staring for a moment, but is quickly dragged away by Chrissy. They make their way downstairs and toward the door to put their shoes and jackets on. 

“Dad! We’re going to the mall!” Chrissy calls out, her voice echoing across the house. 

“Sounds good!” Randy calls back as they turn and head out of the house. 

___________

When Friday rolls around, Waverly finds a little more confidence in herself. She knows there’s really no chance that Nicole is going to want to be her date to the dance that night, even though they were all basically going as a group anyway. 

She planned on giving the redhead as much space as possible that night, not wanting to overwhelm her. She knows it’s probably already a lot on her to have to go in a group with Waverly, but she’s doing it for Chrissy and Charlie. The pair definitely has loyalty to their friends in common. 

The morning goes by pretty fast, she finds herself thinking more and more about trying to talk to Nicole as her classes go on. She wants to stop her in the hall and see if they can talk during lunch. She’s been spending the lunch periods at her old table with the football players and cheerleaders, even though it’s the last place she wants to be most days. 

After history class, she decides she’s going to finally approach the redhead. She lingers outside the door, waiting for her to leave the room. It seems to take forever, but as soon as she sees her, she calls out to her.

“Hey, Nicole, wait!” 

The redhead stops in her tracks, turning toward her without hesitation. 

“Yeah?” She asks.

“Hey, do you think maybe we could talk?” Waverly asks. She feels her nerves rumbling inside of her, but she sticks to her guns, really wanting Nicole to hear her out. 

“Um,” the redhead says, looking around the hallway. “I actually have this thing,” she says, gesturing over her shoulder to nowhere in particular. 

“Oh,” Waverly says. “Okay.” She tries not to show too much disappointment when the redhead shoots her down, just like Chrissy warned. “Maybe later?” 

Persistence. 

“Um, yeah, sure,” Nicole says with a nod. She’s not convincing Waverly that she actually wants to talk to her any time soon, but it’s a start. 

“Okay, great,” Waverly says awkwardly, forcing a smile on her face. “See ya!” She adds, a little too enthusiastically. She internally kicks herself as Nicole gives her another nod before turning and walking away from her. 

Waverly hits herself in the head with the heel of her palm, shaking her head at the extremely awkward encounter she had with her ex girlfriend. They’re still very far from where she wants to be. 

“Ready for lunch?” A voice comes from behind her. She turns to see a bumble Chrissy coming down the hallway. She nods and turns, making her way to the cafeteria with her best friend. 

That night, Waverly goes over to Chrissy’s to get ready for the dance. She tries to tell Chrissy that she could just meet them there, avoiding anymore encounters with Nicole who clearly wasn’t ready to talk. She feels like if she sees her at the house, she would want to corner her again but she doesn’t want to pressure her either. 

Chrissy insists that she spoke with Nicole and she’s fine with the fact that Waverly will be there. Maybe with it being a group of their friends, it won’t feel as awkward. She also hopes to try to steal a moment alone with the redhead at the dance that night anyway, hoping the romantic setting and music will ease the tension a little. 

When she arrives at Chrissy’s house, she stands back and watches the interaction between Charlie and Chrissy meeting in person for the first time. It’s cute and she thinks they’ll definitely hit it off. He’s petrified when he finds out that Randy wants to talk to him, but goes anyway out of respect for Chrissy. 

When Charlie goes downstairs, Chrissy and Waverly make their way into Chrissy’s room to get changed. They don’t take as much time to get ready as they usually do. She spends most of her time helping Chrissy get dolled up to impress a cute boy. As for Waverly, she doesn’t feel like impressing anyone if Nicole won’t even give her the time of day. 

Once they’re dressed and ready, Waverly opens the door to Chrissy’s room. As she starts to leave the room, she notices the hallway is already occupied by Nicole and Rosita. Stopping in her tracks, she catches a glimpse of Nicole in her outfit, noticing it’s the same shirt she helped her pick out before homecoming. She feels a warmth in her stomach as she looks the redhead up and down, swallowing hard. 

Nicole looks hot.

This is going to be a long night. 

By the time they make it downstairs, Charlie is waiting for them at the bottom. He’s smiling so Randy couldn’t have gone too hard on him. 

They all turn to head for the door when they’re stopped by Randy calling out. “Wait!” He says. “We need pictures first!” 

“Dad!” Chrissy whines. The group laughs and finally agrees to go along with it.

They stand as a group at first, in front of the stairs. Nicole stands on one end with Rosita next to her. Waverly stands on the other side of Rosita. She casually places her hand around Rosita’s waist. She feels Nicole do the same and she takes the opportunity to brush her fingers lightly on the redhead’s arm. She takes a deep breath in and can smell Nicole’s scent of vanilla fill her senses. Nicole quickly shifts her arm down so it isn’t touching the brunette’s anymore, leaving Waverly disappointed. 

“Okay, can I get one with just you two?” Randy asks, pointing at Chrissy and Nicole. The pair look at each other and then back at Randy and roll their eyes simultaneously. “Come on! Do it for me,” he tries to convince them.

“Fine!” Chrissy groans as she leaves Charlie’s side to stand next to Nicole. 

“Don’t let Chrissy fool you,” Waverly chimes in. “She’s always wanted a sister,” she adds with a laugh. 

Chrissy gives Waverly a dirty look causing her to laugh, then turns back toward her father to take the picture. After a few more photos, the group says ‘bye’ to Randy and makes their way out the door. Chrissy offers to drive everyone, but Rosita and Nicole decide to drive on their own so they part ways until they make it to the school. 

At the dance, the group of their friends sit at the table together. Chrissy spends most of her time pulling Charlie onto the dance floor, but when he is at the table, Nicole spends most of her time talking to him. Waverly tries to find an opportunity to talk with the redhead, but has trouble finding a time when she is alone. 

When she’s not talking to Charlie, Rosita is hanging all over her. Waverly tries not to let it get to her, but it’s frustrating that she turned down a date to the dance when Nicole apparently had one all along. Chrissy pulls her out to the dance floor a few times, asking how things are going with Nicole. 

“They aren’t,” Waverly tells her, matter of factly. 

“Well, when are you going to talk to her?” 

“I can’t get her alone!” Waverly whines. “She’s either talking to Charlie, no offense,” she says to the boy who’s clearly listening to their conversation. Charlie shakes his head like he’s not offended. “Or she’s talking to Jeremy and Robin or Rosita is all up on her like they’re trying to rub it in my face or something!” 

“Maybe I can talk to her?” Chrissy suggests.

“No, I don’t want you to have to be in the middle,” she says. “I’ll do it, I just have to find a moment where she’s not surrounded by everyone.” 

“Well, this might be your moment,” Chrissy says as she points toward Nicole who is making her way out of the gym, toward the hallway. 

Waverly takes a deep breath in, letting it out slowly. She nods at her friend and takes her opportunity to follow the redhead in hopes she can have a moment alone with her. 

She reaches the bathroom door and hears running water coming from inside. She hopes this is where Nicole went and she hopes there’s no one else inside. She pushes the door open and Nicole is the first thing that she sees. She’s standing in front of the sink, water running, with her eyes closed, splashing water over her face. 

The redhead quickly dries her face with a paper towel before turning her attention toward the door. 

“Waverly,” she says, softly. Her eyes quickly wander down the brunette’s body, something Waverly catches, causing a small grin to appear on her face. 

“You okay?” Waverly asks as she makes her way further into the bathroom. Nicole nods and glances at herself in the mirror once more.

“Yeah,” she says. “I just needed a breather. I should go though,” she tells her as she gestures toward the door. Nicole tries to move past the brunette, but she’s purposely standing in the way and their bodies brush lightly as she shifts by her. 

Waverly catches a glimpse of the metal flask on Nicole’s back pocket, quickly pulling it out to take a swig. 

“Sure, help yourself,” Nicole says with a laugh.

“Thanks,” Waverly says with a smile. She takes a sip of the liquid, cringing slightly at the taste, before putting the cap back on and sliding it back into Nicole’s back pocket. Her hand lingers for a moment, not wanting to move it, but she does. “We should talk.”

“Rosita is looking for me,” Nicole says quickly. She gestures toward the door again. 

“Uh, yeah,” Waverly says. 

“Later?” Nicole asks. Waverly is not entirely sure if she actually means it. 

“Of course,” Waverly nods. “It’s important,” she adds before Nicole heads for the door. She quickly disappears on the other side of the door and Waverly pauses for a moment, staring at herself in the mirror. 

“What just happened?” She asks herself, clearly realizing how she was just boldly flirting with the redhead. 

As the night goes on, Waverly can’t stop stealing glances of Nicole. She looks so good in her blue button down and all Waverly wants to do is be close to her again. She knows she messed up, but she’s willing to do what it takes to win the girl back again. 

She notices Nicole taking more and more sips of the flask in her pocket. She thinks about how she wishes she had a flask of her own to drink from as well, it might give her more courage to talk to her again. 

As the music switches to a slow song, Perry approaches her at the table. “How about that dance I promised you?” He asks, reaching his hand out to the brunette. Waverly smiles and nods at the boy. 

“Thanks,” she says softly as he leads her to the dance floor. 

“You seemed a little tense,” he says as they move closer to each other, beginning to move to the music. 

“Just, uh,” she searches for the words. 

“Girl problems?” He asks. 

Waverly nods and smiles back at Perry. A calm comes over her that she hasn’t felt all night. “You really are a nice guy,” she says. 

He squints his eyes a little at her, head tilting slightly. “Did you think I wasn’t?” He asks. 

“No, no!” She says quickly. “You’re just...really cool about all of this.” 

“What good is it going to do if I’m a jerk about it?” He asks. “Look, Waves, you love who you love,” he continues. “Who am I to decide that for you?” 

She doesn’t have the words to say anything in response in that moment. She just pulls him a little closer, resting her head on his chest for a moment, continuing to follow the beat of the song. 

Suddenly something catches her eye as she sees a blue shirt and red hair quickly rush by her. She takes a deep breath in as she watches Nicole once again leave the gym, but this time in a much more frazzled manner. 

“Hey, do you mind if I…” she gestures over her shoulder. 

Perry nods. “Go ahead,” he says with a smile. 

“Thanks,” she smiles back at him before spinning on her heels, making her way toward the school hallway. 

As soon as she turns the first corner of the hallway, she sees Nicole walking quickly toward a line of lockers. 

“Rosita, I’m not really in the mood,” Nicole huffs. She continues down the hallway, running her fingers against the wall of lockers as she walks. Waverly doesn’t speak at first. She just continues walking faster, attempting to catch up to her. Nicole finally turns, glancing over her shoulder. “Oh,” she says.

“You looked upset,” Waverly says as she follows her down the hall. 

“What gave that away?” Nicole asks as she finally stops walking and leans up against the closest locker. 

“Look, Nicole, I know you’re mad and you have every right to be,” Waverly says. She moves a little closer, still keeping some space between them.

“Mad about what?” Nicole challenges. “The fact that you dumped me? The fact that you gave up on me? Or the fact that not even three weeks after we break up you’re on a date with Perry fuckin Crofte?!”

“I’m not on date with Perry,” Waverly responds quickly, a little confused. 

“Sure seems that way,” Nicole says as she gestures back toward the gym. 

Waverly looks behind her, then back toward Nicole. “He just asked me to dance, that was it. We’re not here together,” she assures her. “I came with with Chrissy and Charlie, you saw that.” 

“I saw Perry’s big production in the hall the other day,” Nicole tells her, not believing her fully. 

“And did you see me tell him no?” Waverly asks. She’s a little annoyed that the redhead is jumping to all of these conclusions, but she can’t really blame her at the same time. She watches as Nicole drops her head down toward the floor, staring at her feet. “Besides,” she continues. “Aren't you Rosita’s date?” 

“Only to make you jealous,” Nicole sighs. “Because I thought you had a date and I was mad,” she admits. 

Waverly feels bad for making Nicole feel jealous, but it also gives her a little hope that she did feel that way. She takes another step closer to the redhead. Nicole finally looks up, her soft, brown eyes meeting Waverly’s hazel ones. 

“I told Perry ‘no’ because there’s only one person I wanted to go to the dance with,” Waverly explains. “And that’s you.” She brushes loose hair from Nicole’s face. Nicole closes her eyes leaning into her touch a little more. 

“How can you still say that when you’re the one who broke up with me?” Nicole asks when she opens her eyes. 

“Because I made a mistake, Nicole,” Waverly tells her. “I thought I was protecting you. I thought you were better off without me and the drama that comes along with dating me.” 

“Well you can’t just take it back,” Nicole reminds her, eyes still locked on Waverly’s. 

“I know that,” Waverly says softly. She lines her body up in front of the redhead. 

“And you can’t just pretend it didn’t happen,” Nicole says, licking her lips as her eyes travel from Waverly’s eyes to her mouth. 

“And I know that,” Waverly assures her. 

“And you can’t just-” Nicole trails off, eyes focusing back on Waverly’s. 

“Can’t just what?” Waverly asks, almost in a whisper.

“Stand there looking like that and expect me to not want to kiss you.” 

The words shock Waverly. Her eyes widen, but her body doesn’t move. She feels frozen in that moment, hearing the words she’s longed to hear for a few weeks coming out of the mouth of the girl she loves.The space between them lessens, as they lean in simultaneously toward each other.

Their lips finally press together, gently at first. The kiss deepens as their hands find each other’s bodies. Waverly feels a spark of electricity jolt through her body, not wanting it to stop. It was like their bodies were reconnecting after being away for so long, familiar, yet new at the same time. 

After a few moments, Nicole pushes back softly. “Wait,” she breathes out. Waverly looks at her, slightly upset, but provides her with space. “I gotta go,” Nicole says as she slides her body out from between Waverly and the lockers. 

“Wait,” Waverly calls after her, but she doesn’t listen. She heads straight for the doors of the school, making her way out into the chill of the night. 

Waverly turns, pressing her back up against the lockers. She leans her head back, feeling it hit against the hard, metal surface. She wants to scream, but her insides do that for her. She doesn’t know what to do, but she knows she needs the redhead to listen to her. 

She stands alone in the hall for a while, she’s not quite sure how much time actually passes. Before someone comes looking for her, she decides she should probably go back into the gym. She quickly makes her way back into the gym with only one thing on her mind. Nicole. She walks straight up to their table like she’s on a mission. 

“Whoa there, Earp,” Rosita says. “Where’s the fire?” 

“I need a favor,” she says to the other girl. Rosita nods like she understands her urgency. “Can you give me a ride?” 

“Where’s Nicole?” Rosita asks. 

“I was hoping you knew,” Waverly answers. Rosita shakes her head. “She left after we kissed.” 

“Wait, what?” 

“It’s a bit of a long story, I just have to find her.” 

Rosita nods and pulls her phone out. Waverly finds Chrissy and Charlie on the dance floor, explaining to them that she needs to go find Nicole. Chrissy asks if she wants her to come with her but she tells her to stay and enjoy the rest of the dance. She turns back toward Rosita, who is gesturing for her to come with her. 

“She’s on her way home with Randy,” Rosita says, waving her phone in the air in front of her a little. 

“Can you take me there?” Waverly asks.

“Yeah, lets go,” Rosita says. 

“Thanks,” Waverly says as she follows Rosita out to her car. 

On the way to Nicole’s house, Rosita calls her on the phone to make sure she got back already. Waverly didn’t want to beat her there, she just needs to find a way to get her to listen. 

“You okay?” Rosita asks into the phone. 

Waverly can't hear what Nicole is saying, just the tone of her voice coming through from the other side. 

“Do you need company?” Rosita’s asks. 

Waverly appreciates Rosita’s help. She’s a little surprised that she's not getting a lecture from her right now. As one of Nicole’s really close friends, she almost expects her to be mad at her too. 

“We can talk about it if you want,” Rosita assures her. 

“Fine,” Rosita stops trying to argue with her. “You know where to find me,” she adds before they hang up. 

“She’s home?” Waverly asks. 

“She’s home, and stubborn as all hell,” Rosita says as she turns toward Waverly. 

“Not surprising,” Waverly says with a laugh. “Hey, listen, thanks for helping me. I know I’m probably not your favorite person right now either.” 

“I’m sure you have your reasons, Waverly,” Rosita says. “Love is complicated. It’s messy. And so is high school,” she adds with a laugh. “If it’s meant to be, you guys will figure it out.” 

“I hope so,” the brunette says softly. 

They pull into the Nedley house and Waverly climbs out, thanking Rosita once again for the ride before she turns and makes her way into the house. She’s thankful that the front door is unlocked as she turns the handle and walks right in, something she’s done several times before. 

She quickly heads for the stairs, hoping she doesn’t run into Randy, having to explain to him what she’s doing there without Chrissy and Charlie. 

When she reaches the top of the stairs, she makes her way down to the end of the hall. Nicole’s door is closed, but she can see the light is on through the crack under the door. She goes to knock, but pauses for a moment. She got this far, now what does she say? 

‘Hey Nicole, we really need to talk.’

No. 

‘About that kiss.’

Ugh. 

She goes to knock again, but stops. Instead, she reaches for the door handle and turns it. There’s not holding back now. 

It’s now or never.

She quickly enters the room, slamming the door shut behind her. She leans up against the door and looks up at Nicole, who jumps at the sight of her appearing in her room. 

“Jesus, Waverly!” She calls out. 

Waverly stops and stares at Nicole, who’s standing there without a shirt on. Maybe she should have knocked. 

“Sorry, I just need to talk to you and you keep walking away from me,” Waverly says. 

“And you don’t get the hint,” Nicole says.

Waverly ignores the comment. There’s no other way to get Nicole to finally listen to her. She tries to think of how to start, but has difficulty forming words with the topless redhead sitting in front of her. 

“Can you please put a shirt on first, it’s distracting,” Waverly says, staring at the redhead’s bare skin on her abs. Nicole glances down at her body, then back up at the brunette.

“Well, that’s what I was trying to do,” Nicole says, waving her shirt in the air. She slides the clothing over her head, covering her exposed torso. 

“Thank you,” Waverly says. “I just,” she continues. “I just need you to hear me out. You don’t have to even say anything, just listen to me and I’ll leave you alone.” 

“Okay,” Nicole says softly, giving in. She sits down on the bed and pats the spot next to her, gesturing for the brunette to take a seat. 

Waverly takes the offer and sits down on the bed next to her. There’s just enough distance between them that they’re not touching. She doesn’t speak at first. She looks down at her hands, playing with her fingers as she thinks of the words to say. 

She’s afraid once she starts talking, she won’t know how to stop. She’s afraid it’s all about to pour out of her mouth and she’s not going to make any sense. All of her built up emotions from the last few weeks are about to come out of her. She finally has her moment to explain herself and she’s going to do her best not to screw it up.

Persistence. 

It’s now or never. 


End file.
